The TO Show

What a weird couple of weeks. I’m now the proud owner of a PS3…which places that last little Gamer Scout Badge on my shirt. Ya know, the one that reads, “Owns Every Current System”. I guess calling myself a ‘proud’ owner is a bit of a stretch seeing that I’ve been a Sony hater for a while now. That being said, I’m fairly impressed with the mammoth monolith that is the PlayStation 3 (in 4D!!!!). The network is free, the system hub is less offensive than Xbox Live and the downloadable games available are much more in line with my past interests…read: I CAN PUT PLAYSTATION GAMES ON MY FUCKING PSP. Hello Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, Xenogears, Vagrant Story (pending). Ya. I can see their vision a little more clearly now that I actually have all the pieces in place. It’s too bad that I had to wait until the PS3 dropped to a reasonable price (got a refurb for $200 with a full warranty) to even get a chance to see the system in action. Do I still think Sony is way off on their console strategy? Hell yes. Are they still crazily out of touch with how to sell in the current market? Umm, yeah. BUT the system they have provided us with is actually everything it was advertised to be. It DOES have the best graphics, it DOES still retain some exclusives that matter (Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, probably Kingdom Hearts) and I am, generally speaking, pretty pleasantly surprised by the whole damn thing. And there are games for it that I want to play, something I can’t really say that about my 360 or Wii anymore. Please don’t misread me here, I’m not jumping on the bandwagon now four years later just because I happened to buy a new PlayStation. 360 is still king in my home…I’ll never have as many PS3 games as I will 360, but the feeling of being able to own every available release (I’ve been sad that I missed out on Valkyria Chronicles for so long!) and the choice between any multi-platform games has given me some hope for how I can fill my time with this ‘gaming’ thing everyone always talks about.

Secondly, I bought Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. After ten hours in I can say that this truly is the Matsuno game that I hoped it would be. Everything I’ve come to love about this team’s games is here in spades. The music is spectacular, the writing and translation is superb, the art design is second to none and the battles are bigger, faster and more entertaining than other strategy RPGs I’ve played. The story weaves a darkly political tale about friendship, loyalty, duty and probably many other things past the 10 hour mark. I love it so much it’s scary. Even though this game is still a question mark (I missed out on its earlier releases), I’m able to say that it won’t best Vagrant Story in my ultimate listing but after that top spot…anything goes. Watch out for Tactics Ogre man, ’cause that shit is nuts. I can only hope that successful sales figures could mean more uninterrupted work for Matsuno and crew.

The shiny new toys in my life mean that I’ve abandoned playing Final Fantasy VII for the list. I’m sure I’ll get back to it after I kill myself upon completing TO with the idea that I can finally die happy/nothing left to live for. Also, much like the Castlevania Challenge…The Zelda Challenge has begun! Zelda and Zelda II were crazy and this particular challenge promises to continue to impress. I didn’t forget the review for Dissidia either, it’s coming up next. Until then!